Amalfi

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Amalfi is also a town in the Antioquia Departament in Colombia.

Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, 24 miles southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 meters, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. The town of Amalfi was the capital of The Maritime Republic of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200.

History

Amalfi is first mentioned in the 6th century CE, and soon acquired importance as a maritime power, trading its grain, salt and slaves from the interior, and even timber, for the gold dinars minted in Egypt and Syria, in order to buy the silks of the Byzantine empire that it resold in the West. Merchants of Amalfi were using gold coins to purchase land in the 9th century, while most of Italy worked in a barter economy. In the 8th and 9th century, when Mediterranean trade revived it shared with Gaeta the Italian trade with the East, while Venice was in its infancy, and in 848 its fleet went to the assistance of Pope Leo IV against the Saracens.

It was then an independent republic with a population of some 70,000, reaching an apogee about the turn of the millennium, during the reign of Duke Manso (966–1004). Amalfi, under his line of dukes, remained independent, except for a brief period of Salernitan dependency under Guaimar IV, until 1073. In that year it fell to Norman Apulia, but was granted many rights. However, in 1131, it was reduced by King Roger II of Sicily, who had demanded the keys to its citadel and had been refused. In 1135 and 1137, it was taken by the Pisans, and rapidly declined in importance, though its maritime code, known as the Tavole Amalfitane, was recognized in the Mediterranean until 1570. In 1343 a large part of the lower town was destroyed by a tsunami, and its harbor is now of little importance.

Main sights

Burial place of Saint Andrew

The Catholic Encyclopedia [notes] that Saint Andrew's relics were brought from Constantinople to Amalfi in Campania, Italy, by Pietro, cardinal of Capua, an Amalfitan, in 1206 after the completion of the town's cathedral. The cathedral, dedicated to St Andrew (as is the town itself), contains a tomb in its crypt that it maintains still holds a portion of the remains of the body of the apostle.

Today

Amalfi is the main town of the coast on which it is located, named Costiera Amalfitana, and is today an important tourist destination together with other towns on the same coast, such as Positano, Ravello, and others. Amalfi is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Amalfi coast is famed for its production of Limoncello liqueur.

External links

• [Amalfi Webcam]
• [Amalfi Webcam and Weather Station]
• [Amalfi and its Cathedral]
• [Amalfi Map]
• [ItalianVisits.com]

 

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